Hawaiian Missionaries (Dawson Cover)
- Maker
- Kingdom of Hawaii (postmaster H.M. Whitney)
- Year
- 1851
- Rank
- 10 of 100
- Identifier
- 2c/5c/13c 'Hawaiian Postage' Missionaries; the Dawson Cover bears the only known 2c on cover (rarest denomination)
Hawaiian Missionaries (Dawson Cover)
Realized at auction: $2,240,000, dated 2013-01-01. This is a realized sale. Somebody paid it.
What is it, and why is it in the FLOAT 100?
Hawaii's first stamps and among the most coveted classics in world philately; the Dawson Cover is the only known use of the 2c value on cover, famously rescued from a furnace.
2c/5c/13c 'Hawaiian Postage' Missionaries; the Dawson Cover bears the only known 2c on cover (rarest denomination)
What is the best-sourced number for it?
- Figure
- $2,240,000
- Kind
- Realized at auction
- Date
- 2013-01-01
A realized auction price is what a buyer actually paid on the date shown, including the buyer's premium where the sale reported it. It is the strongest kind of reference price, and it is a record of one sale of one object on one day, not a promise of what the next example will bring.
By reference price, Hawaiian Missionaries (Dawson Cover) is number 8 of 99 in the stamps entries of the FLOAT 100. 75 of those 99 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (10 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.
How this is made
- The figure
- One reference price, shown with its own kind. FLOAT does not average it with anything or adjust it for time.
- Realized or not
- A realized price is a completed sale. A market asking price and a price-guide value are not sales, and are labeled as such wherever they appear.
- Why no grade ladder
- Most FLOAT 100 entries are individual objects. There is one of this, so there is no population and no spread across grades to show.
- Archive
- 2026-08-08
Track your own
FLOAT is a free tracker. Add the stamps you own, keep photos and certificates with each item, and see a value built from real sales at your item's grade. This page is a public reference; it does not offer, price or sell insurance.